The George W. Bush Presidential Center today announced Bill and Melinda Gates as the recipients of the 2019 George W. Bush Medal for Distinguished Leadership.
January 31, 2019 (Dallas, Texas) – The George W. Bush Presidential Center today announced Bill and Melinda Gates as the recipients of the 2019 George W. Bush Medal for Distinguished Leadership. The Gates will accept the award on April 11, 2019, at the Bush Center’s Forum on Leadership, a landmark event to develop, recognize, and celebrate leadership.
The 2019 Forum on Leadership will place a particular focus on leaders who are tackling today’s most pressing challenges with compassion, and on solutions that are rooted in courage, civility, and character. This year, the event is generously presented by Pioneer Natural Resources.
“Our goal is to inspire others to change the world in a positive manner by highlighting global figures who continue to lead by example,” said Ken Hersh, President and CEO of the Bush Center. “Bill and Melinda Gates are committed to helping, in their own words, ‘every person get the chance to live a healthy, productive life.’ By selecting a few big goals and partnering with others, they’ve reduced inequities in health, promoted innovation to break down economic barriers, and held our education system accountable for the success of all students. Their unparalleled efforts to find solutions for people with the most urgent need, regardless of who they are or where they live, is the embodiment of compassionate leadership.”
In addition to Bill and Melinda Gates, the Forum on Leadership will feature a conversation on the new world order with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.
Plenary sessions will center on the responsibilities of global citizenship with former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi. These sessions will have a focus on how entrepreneurs, philanthropists, and others are combining vision and action to address systemic challenges in a turbulent world.
In addition, the Forum on Leadership will feature concurrent Studio 43 sessions. These more intimate conversations offer a unique format to tackle emerging issues in our world, including the new space race, and technological transformations and threats.
The inaugural Forum on Leadership included renowned leaders such as Ben Bernanke, Condoleezza Rice, Hank Paulson, Arthur Brooks, Jeff Bezos, Priscilla Chan, John Boehner and Vice President Dick Cheney. The George W. Bush Medal for Distinguished Leadership was presented to Bono. Highlights from the 2018 event can be found here.
While the event is invitation only, multiple sessions will be live streamed. For more information, visit www.bushcenter.org/forumonleadership.
